It’s up to a Los Angeles judge to determine if Anthony Thomas really owns the $400 million Bahia Emerald, which has spent the past 10 years on a mysterious journey across the US
Thomas, who has collected several other emeralds, testified Tuesday that he bought the gem in 2001 for $60,000. But he says he never received it. Instead, he claims, the Brazilian miners who sold it to him kept it and told him the shipper lost it so they could resell it to someone else for more money.
After that, the rock turned up in New Orleans, where it was housed in a bank vault that flooded during Hurricane Katrina. It was also reported stolen from a storage facility in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte before authorities finally seized it in Las Vegas.
To bolster his case, Thomas’ attorney introduced 25 photos of Thomas with his arm around the hulking stone while it was still in Brazil.
But attorney Andrew Spielberger, representing a handful of businessmen who say they bought the gem for $1.3 million, dismissed the photos as little more than tourist snapshots.
“Why would you take 25 photos of the 600-pound emerald if you were going to take it home with you anyway?” Spielberger asked.
The rock is referred to in court as the 600-pound (270-kilogram) emerald because that was its estimated weight before it was placed on a scale.
Thomas says the photos were taken at a celebration commemorating his ownership of the gem. He said he also received a bill of sale but lost that when his house burned down in 2006.
Spielberger was skeptical of that too, asking Thomas why, if he kept another smaller emerald in a safe deposit box, he didn’t keep proof that he really owned the big one there too.
“I don’t know why I didn’t do it. I have no explanation.
People do things,” Thomas said, insisting the safe was supposed to be fireproof.
He accused his former business partner, who has also put in a claim for the emerald, of burning down his house to destroy his record of the purchase. Thomas was later forced to acknowledge fire investigators determined his house burned to the ground after someone left a pot of beans cooking on a stove.
Whoever winds up with the gigantic gem could be in for a huge payday. It’s generally considered to be worth $400 million, but attorneys said Tuesday one appraiser valued it as high as $900 million.
That led the attorneys to question why experienced Brazilian miners would have been willing to sell it to Thomas for only $60,000. They maintain that money was really payment for polishing services and the purchase of other gems Thomas bought.
Thomas said that was the price they asked, adding he had no idea of the emerald’s true value until much later.
Superior Court Judge John A. Kronstadt, who is hearing the case without a jury, is expected to issue a written ruling on Thomas’ ownership claim sometime after the trial, which resumes Wednesday.
